PART II Chapter 13

Winds ravaged the island, howling against the heavy lead casing of the Great Central fSZ. Hurricane 398 of the year had made landfall conveniently at around the same time that the box had gone up, and Josh sat at a small, round table in the living space of his one-bedroom apartment sipping fortified tea. He was glad it wasn’t one of the stronger nor bigger ones. With maximum sustained winds of only 487 miles per hour, and at 300 miles in diameter, 398 was pretty tame. His thoughts went out to Laney and Norman in some random bunker out there — it was lucky that they got to leave relatively early today.

Josh had gone through his entire stash of fortified crackers and three cans of his only coffee. This is what he did on Friday nights. Review reports from R&D and Production to find out what the hell was going on and a story to tell. He had Gozowski and Moon working on the model over the weekend. Max and his sub-team were digging into the supply chain issues. Josh had the happy work of figuring out the gun itself.

“Have you found anything yet?” came a tired voice from on his couch. Well, he had to figure it out with Elaine, of course. She was one of the people he had rocketed past on his way to Deputy Director, but had always been big about it. She had been genuinely happy for him. One of the few he could still trust. Sleepy blue eyes and mussed-up dark hair — it was so dark, it was almost purple — appeared over the back of the couch.

“No,” Josh said, scratching at the stubble that had begun forming on his chin. “More tea?”

“No thanks,” Elaine said, stretching. She got up with her system and sat at the table. “Isn’t there anyone on R&D or Production you can ask? You were with R&D before you joined us, right? For how long again?”

“Yeah. Two years of geeky fun,” Josh answered. “Good call — there are a couple people still on R&D. The others transferred. Hyun and Makini live somewhere in Great Central. I’ll call them.”

There was a series of raps at the door.

“Who is it?” Josh yelled.

“It’s me, bro,” came Bingo’s muffled voice from the other side.

Josh stood up and in two quick strides got to the door. He tapped it unlocked and opened it. Bingo was standing in the hallway between their apartments with two small jugs of beer in his hand. Josh had long since stopped wondering at how Bingo had managed to procure these luxuries. Bingo’s eyes widened at the sight of a female of the species in Josh’s apartment.

Opening the door wider, Josh let Bingo in with a sweep of his hand. “Hey, come on in… Bingo, this is my colleague Elaine — Elaine, my neighbor Bingo.” Of course, thought Bingo. Just work. The guy seemed to be oblivious.

“Pleased to meet you,” Elaine said, shaking one of Bingo’s hands with a firm grip. She blinked, glancing at the clear glass bottle full of frothy brew that Bingo had brought in.

Bingo looked around at the papers and systems scattered about. “Hi. So I see it’s study group time. Well, maybe you guys would be interested in some freshly brewed beer.”

“Maybe you can take a break while I call my friends, Elaine,” Josh said, motioning to the couch. As Josh retreated to his bedroom, tapping his ring as he walked. Elaine gathered her things and piled them carefully on the table before sitting down next to Bingo. He popped open the jugs and handed her one.

“Sorry — I didn’t know Josh had a guest.”

“No problem. I’ve uh… I’ve never had ‘beer’ before — what is it?”

“It’s a refreshing beverage,” replied Bingo, flashing her his most charming smile. She was plain, but somewhat charming in a cerebral kind of way. “So… What are you working on?”

“I can’t tell you — confidential,” she said demurely. “Sorry,” she added, taking a furtive sip.

“Ah it’s okay — I get it all the time from Josh. So, well… What’s your favorite thing to do besides work?”

“Besides work?” Elaine asked. Bingo sighed inwardly. The one time there’s a girl in Josh’s apartment and she had to be one of these types. It was going to be one awkward visit. But, he thought to himself with a shrug, at least they had some beer.

Elaine sat back in her chair across from Josh’s and threw up her hands in frustration. The two SS negotiators were hunched over system maps, technical documents and specification videos in Elaine’s small, second-floor apartment near The Rails.

“Josh, there’s nothing. The calculations all make sense — the Gamma Goblins shouldn’t be blowing anyone up but their targets.”

“Did you look over the lab reports again, watch the videos?”

“I have — at least three times. And I know you have, too.”

Josh paused the video he had been replaying and sat back, laying his head on the back of his chair and staring at the ceiling. Elaine looked at him for a moment. “More water?”

“Yes, please.”

As Elaine got up to get the jug from her kitchen, she passed within a hair’s breadth by Josh. He continued to tap at the flat system cube in his hand. Elaine shook her head. The guy was dense. Denser than the lead casing of the functional SafeZone at night.

“Can we take a break?” She asked as she set a glass of tepid potable water between folders in front of her colleague. Josh nodded wearily. It was early evening, and Elaine’s back was cramping up. She took a few short steps to the middle of the living room in which they worked and bent over to touch her bare toes. Josh had gotten up to pace along the short wall behind the table.

“Your friend is nice,” Elaine said a bit awkwardly, hanging with her arms outstretched. “And beer is pretty good.” Elaine glanced over in time to see Josh grin. His dark brown hair stood in an unruly but attractive mess on his head, and he had several days of stubble growing on his strong jaw.

“Yeah — Bingo’s a good guy. Really relaxed and always knows where to get the good stuff.” Josh answered from across the room.

“You don’t find too many relaxed people these days,” Elaine observed sadly, straightening out and standing tall. She turned back towards the table and saw Josh flipping through a pile of papers. Yes, she thought sadly, this guy was denser than a thick, bunker door.